Let's Play...Roland Garros 2001

BBC Sport Online reviewer David Gibbon says Roland Garros 2001 is a tennis game that fails to hit a winner.

With Wimbledon well under way, computer game firm Cryo Interactive is hoping to serve an ace with an all-new tennis game for the PC and PlayStation.

If you're the sort of person who is more interested in watching Anna Kournikova for her looks than her tennis, this game is probably for you.

  Roland Garros 2001

Format: PSone

Price: £19.99

Publisher: Cryo Interactive

Genre: Formula Tennis

Also Available: PC CD-ROM

Featuring 16 fictional players, both men and women, there's plenty here to keep ogle-eyed onlookers happy.

But if you're also looking to have a decent game of tennis, you may be in for something of a disappointment.

Based on the 2001 French Open, this title offers gamers the chance to compete in the competition, along with the US Open, English Open And Australian Cup.

Why they didn't plump for Wimbledon and the Australian Open is anyone's guess.

To warm up for a match, you can practice your slice and lobs by aiming for a target on the other side of the net.

This works well and, after half an hour or so, you will find your game does improve.

When you are ready to play, you are given the choice of eight courts, including clay and grass - each one in a different country.

Jagged

More unusually, you also get to select the type of racket you use - each one offering a different amount of control and power.

Once a game begins, you'll soon discover the visuals are not exactly jaw-dropping. Each one of the players appears jagged and definition is poor - though they animate reasonably well.

Problems occur when it comes to playing - and this is the main drawback to what could have been an excellent game.

The control system is innovative - but at the same time makes this very frustrating.

When serving, you press and hold a button to serve and then move an X on the other side of the net to direct where the ball will land.

  Gibbon's verdict

Graphics: 68%

Playability: 73%

Sound: 79%

Realism: 64%

Overall: 71%

Although this can work well, during a fast rally it often proves impossible to hit the ball as there's so much to do.

In addition, moves are limited to simple slice and lobs. There's no option of crowd favourites like diving for the ball.

Roland Garros 2001 can entertain for a couple of hours but tennis fans looking for an ace simulation of the sport are really better off sticking to Virtua Tennis on the Dreamcast.